How To Price Cinemagraphs

Whether you’re new to the cinemagraph game, or if you’ve been around for a while, pricing and selling your cinemagraphs is always an interesting challenge. Given that cinemagraphs are a new visual medium, there is a precedent to set here. If we, as a collective, start pricing them too low, then the medium itself will be devalued. On the flip side, if we price them too high, then some brands and agencies may look elsewhere.

In a recent post, Flixel Wizard, Jon Kane Houldsworth said, “The biggest challenge is the perception that cinemagraphs will be priced in line with still photos, it oftentimes takes some education on the process being more in line with video production.” Cinemagraphs tend to be visually complex and perform better than still photos, but aren’t as time consuming to create as traditional long-form video. One could assume cinemagraphs should be priced somewhere in-between the two parent mediums. But, it’s not that easy, if you’ve ever charged for a creative service.

How to Price Cinemagraphs

Should you charge hourly/daily, or a fixed rate per cinemagraph? Depending on the client’s use case, how different should your pricing be for a social post versus a full-scale digital ad campaign? Well, we’re here to try and help answer those questions.

I checked in with Mark Homza, the Chief Creative Officer of Flixel Studios. Mark and his team have executed custom cinemagraph campaigns and live activations for brands like Facebook, Mercedes, and PepsiCo. Mark has tons of valuable knowledge and expertise to share. I also reached out to a few of our valued Flixel Community members who are currently earning a living from their cinemagraph businesses. Below is a mish-mash of information and tips that we hope help you figure out how to price your own cinemagraph services.

Turn your cinemagraph passion into a money maker

Take the leap. Start making money from your cinemagraphs! There are a few ways that you can profit from cinemagraphs. I’ve broken it down into 3 main categories below.

Custom Campaigns

Whether you’re hired to create content for a Fortune 500 company or a small local brand, companies are searching for new ways to enhance their campaigns.

Enter cinemagraphs. So, how do you price cinemagraphs for a custom campaign? Here are a few things to consider.

The Pitch

You may have a passion and knowledge for cinemagraphs, but if your client hasn’t heard of them yet, they may need some coaxing. Showing them your portfolio of cinemagraphs and educating them on the benefits of using cinemagraphs over stills is a great start. You can even share your Flixel gallery. We’ve put together a pitch deck about cinemagraphs that you can use for free! Download the Keynote or PowerPoint version below.

Jon has a more personal approach to pitching cinemagraphs to his clients, which involves meeting in person, or on Skype/Facetime to chat it out. “The personal touch goes a long way. I don’t shy away from giving a good explanation in my first email back to clients to explain the basics of what a cinemagraph is, what’s involved to produce them and how to get the most out of them for brand marketing/advertising. Be up front and transparent… there’s nothing worse than a client later saying ‘I didn’t know this!’ Give a few brief ideas but don’t give away too much, some may just take your ideas and go elsewhere or try and do it themselves… just tempt them.”

The Questions

So, your client is convinced. Now you need to get on the same page. What exactly does the custom campaign entail? Where will the cinemagraphs be used? Below is a list of questions that we’ve put together based on what Ylva Erevall and Jon from our Flixel Community often ask to get a better understanding of what the client is looking for.

What are you using the Cinemagraphs for — advertising, advertorial, or editorial? Organic social media posts or paid social ads? Digital displays i.e. in-store, tradeshow screens, or digital billboards?

Where will it run? For how long?

Will they also be up on a website after the campaign has run?

What is the approximate ad spend?

Are they looking for a buy out? Worldwide or just your country? If worldwide, the price should be much higher, as the client will own the images. If they only pay for usage, they need to pay additional usage if they decide to run the campaign again or on a different platform.

How many creatives? What are the creatives? How many different sets? Studio or location? If location, outdoors or indoors?

It’s also helpful to understand what style of cinemagraph/s the client is looking for, and how much work will go into that style. Questionnaires can help you figure out exactly what the client is looking for. Checkout an example of a short questionnaire that Flixel Studios put together, below!

The Proposal

Once you’ve received the answers that you’re looking for, you’re ready to provide a proposal. When creating a proposal, there are a few different factors to consider: production, deadline, budget, expenses, and use of content created.

Your pricing should be based on the amount of work that goes into the cinemagraph(s) that your client wants, and sometimes, how fast they may want them (consider rush fees when short turn arounds are requested). Flixel Wizard Michel Molder breaks it down like this:

“I price my cinemagraphs in 3 categories. From basic (this would be something Cinemagraph pro might be suitable for), to advanced (high end lighting and multiple loops), to expert (multiple layers/chroma key/complete composite). Together with my client we determine what/how many they want, and I tell them the costs.”

Whether a Fortune 500 company or a mom and pop small business, each client you work with will have a budget for their campaign. Your quote should primarily be based on the service and deliverable that you’re offering, but as you grow your business, you should be valuing your skills and work proportionately to the output and turnover, and consider that worth to any client. Also consider developing a unique expertise (food and beverage cinemagraphs vs fashion) in a particular vertical or style of Cinemagraph production, as it will help you justify a higher day/rate or creative fee.

Clients require content for a variety of purposes, but ultimately it can contribute to their performance and impact their returns. When determining your quote, consider how your work will impact their business, and think about how it’s being used. As Ylva suggested, clients may require your cinemagraphs for a campaign with a short life-span, or may want to own the cinemagraphs for perpetual use. You’ll want to price it higher accordingly, given the use and impact it can have on their overall performance.

Additional Costs

Don’t forget to budget in some of those pesky additional costs, such as:

Travel/accommodation

Model/talent

Set assistance

Equipment/space rentals

After providing a quote, don’t be surprised if you get a little push back… As Ylva put it, “Companies with little to no experience with photography or cinemagraph campaigns do not realize how much goes into a shoot, and they expect to create magic with no budget. See image below for reference.”

Don’t undersell your creativity and talent! If you’re willing to work within your client’s budget, then make sure they understand what you’ll be able to produce within that budget. No one wants to be undervalued. Flixel Wizard, Alexandre Miguel stresses, “Quality demands time, effort, and proper/equal payment. Saying no to underrated payments is a big step!”

The Execution

If you’ve gotten to this point, then it’s finally time for you to flex those creative cinemagraph skills! Each campaign you get to work on is another chance to both:

Delight the client so you can hopefully be rehired or have them refer you to more people.

Build your cinemagraph portfolio!

It’s important to ensure that you and the client are on the same page. From budget, to concept, to terms-of-use, both parties will be happy if everything is clear from the get-go. Below is a general rule that Mark from Flixel Studios follows when going into a campaign:

“You should always see any campaign in 3 parts from a creator’s standpoint:

Post-production (everything that goes into editing and refining your Cinemagraph. From animations, colour adjustments, image re-touching, compositing as well outputting in a variety of formats)

Additional fees can also be applied if the content creator is an influencer and leveraging his or hers following.”

Cinemagraph Booths

One of the Flixel Studios business offerings is creating custom cinemagraph booth activations at events and conferences. From Disney, to Mashable, to Red Bull, these cinemagraphs booths are a great way to engage attendees and create memorable moments—moments that guests can share on their social accounts, or even use as their Facebook Profile Video!

Want to pitch a cinemagraph booth to your client? Here’s what you need to know.

Requirements

There are essentially 2 types of cinemagraph booths you can create at an event.

Real motion, edited in Cinemagraph Pro

Green screen, edited in Cinemagraph Pro and Photoshop/Adobe Software

Depending on what type of booth you’re both interested in and equipped to execute, the concept will vary. For real motion, it’s good to keep it simple and have one or two options/props for the attendees to play with. For green screen, you will be shooting an image of the attendee, and placing that overtop of a cinemagraph/moving background, and you can go more complex from there.

Cinemagraph booths are a ton of fun to execute, but they do require some planning. Here’s what you need to consider.

How many attendees will be there?

What will the motion in each cinemagraph be? Is there a set prop or background that will be in motion?

Will the cinemagraphs be sent out during the event, or afterwards? What is your delivery system?

Are you promising to send the cinemagraphs out via email? If so, how do you plan on collecting the emails?

How many people will you need to help execute the booth?

Cinemagraph Booth Example

Here is a brief breakdown of how Flixel Studios might execute a real motion cinemagraph booth using the iPad Pro mini, and Cinemagraph Pro for iOS.

Attendee size: Under 100

Concept: Light swinging/blinking above, attendees are still

Execution: Cinemagraphs to be edited in real time, and sent out during the event

Step 1: Educate attendee on cinemagraphs and the booth concept, then direct them to pose in the booth space.

Step 2: Shoot video of the attendees using the capture function within Cinemagraph Pro for iOS.

Step 3: Have the attendee watch as you mask their cinemagraph in real-time, using Cinemagraph Pro on the iPad.

Step 4: When you’ve finished editing, set the loop to under 6 seconds, press export, and send the attendee over to your assistant who will take down their email.

Step 6: Your assistant will then attach the cinemagraph video file to the email, and send!

As a general rule, the more attendees, the more expensive. A green screen booth requires a lot more technical skill and time to execute, so should be priced around 1.5-2x more than a live edit booth—THOUGH, there is something incredibly engaging about shooting, editing, and sending out the cinemagraph right in front of the participant using the iPad.

Licensing Stock Cinemagraphs

Stock photography and video have been around for some time, proving to be a great way to make passive income. Many stock sites have begun to introduce cinemagraphs into the various types of content available for purchase. No matter if you’re selling stock photos or videos on a third party platform already, or even on your own website, cinemagraphs are a great way to diversify your content offering.

Here are a few tips!

Shoot high quality video, and in turn, you’ll be able to create high quality cinemagraphs. We recommend shooting 4K video, though HD may suffice as long as the scene is properly lit and exposed! As Hendra Aditya Kurniawan puts it, “Enrich your portfolio.”

Make it simple! Stock cinemagraphs shouldn’t take hours to edit in post production– leave that time for custom campaigns. Choose motions that are easy to mask and execute. Cinemagraphs based on simple concepts will appeal to more customers

“Shoot high quality scenes that are free from labels, brands, and business advertisements.” – Flixel Wizard, Jason Teale

Get out there and create. Shoot multiple cinemagraphs from a single scene. Whether it’s steam rising up from a coffee, milk swirling in the cup, or someone stirring in the sugar. Also consider whether the cinemagraph you’re creating can be cropped for multiple dimensions, so clients can use it for social media, digital displays, and beyond. Make the most out of what’s available, so that your stock offering is not only diverse, but large.

“Think about subjects that would look great on websites and social, rather than what you just happen to shoot one day.” – Jason

Wisdom from Our Community

Now that you’ve got a strong foundation to price cinemagraphs and sell your cinemagraph services, here are some quick tips for anyone getting started in the cinemagraph business:

“Shoot shoot shoot. Make mistakes. Edit. Repeat.” – Michel

“No matter what type of cinemagraphs you are creating – food, fashion, cosmetics – put together test shoots for your book where you challenge yourself in order to learn. When problems come up once you are on a real shoot, you will remember how you solved it when testing. Once you work on your files in Cinemagraph Pro, you realize what works and not and how to make your cinemagraphs as seamless as possible.” -Ylva

“Create what you love with passion and spirit. Be courageous, take risks, learn with mistakes, and always keep evolving.” – Alexandre

“Have a good portfolio showing some dedicated Cinemagraph work. If you already have a portfolio site for still photography, create a new section just for cinemagraphs, feature it on your homepage, write up some information on why they work so well and include some info on proven case studies.” – Jon

“The biggest thing is not to work for free. Payment can be made in many ways but I find a lot of companies are looking just to save money. It has to benefit you in someway. So look for the win-win and remember exposure doesn’t pay bills. If they say that they can get you more clients, make them an affiliate. For every client they bring in, they get a percentage back.” – Jason

If you’ve got any other tips for creators who are looking to sell their cinemagraph work/services, or have some questions about pricing, leave a comment below!

When Cassandra was six, she was asked to share a story with her class…and hasn’t stopped telling them since. Now she does so through photography, video and writing, but with the same sense of wonder - and love for glitter - as her inner kid.

Glad you found it helpful! Pricing creative work is not an easy thing to do, especially for cinemagraphs since they are still fairly new. If you have any questions or want some feedback on your work/projects, our Facebook community is a great place to connect! https://www.facebook.com/groups/flixel/

My coder is trying to convince me to move to .net from
PHP. I have always disliked the idea because of
the expenses. But he's tryiong none the less. I've been using Movable-type on a number
of websites for about a year and am worried about switching to another platform.
I have heard good things about blogengine.net. Is there
a way I can transfer all my wordpress content into it?
Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Its like you read my mind! You appear to know a lot
about this, like you wrote the book in it or something. I think
that you could do with some pics to drive the message home a bit, but instead of that,
this is magnificent blog. A great read. I'll definitely be back.

Hey, I think your website might be having browser compatibility
issues. When I look at your blog in Firefox, it looks fine but when opening in Internet Explorer, it has some overlapping.
I just wanted to give you a quick heads up! Other then that, superb blog!

I think everything published was very reasonable.
But, what about this? what if you added a little content?
I am not saying your information isn't solid., however suppose you added a post title that grabbed a person's attention? I mean How To Price Cinemagraphs | Flixel Photos is a little plain. You could glance at Yahoo's home page
and see how they create article titles to grab
viewers to click. You might add a video or a related pic or two
to grab people excited about what you've written. Just my opinion, it could make your website a little bit more interesting.

When I initially commented I clicked the "Notify me when new comments are added" checkbox and now each time a comment is added I get
several emails with the same comment. Is there any way
you can remove me from that service? Bless
you!

This design is incredible! You certainly know how
to keep a reader amused. Between your wit and your videos, I was almost moved to start my own blog (well, almost...HaHa!) Wonderful job.
I really enjoyed what you had to say, and more than that, how you presented it.
Too cool!

Does your website have a contact page? I'm having trouble locating it but, I'd
like to shoot you an email. I've got some recommendations for your blog you might be interested
in hearing. Either way, great blog and I look forward to seeing
it improve over time.

First of all I would like to say awesome blog!
I had a quick question which I'd like to ask if you don't mind.
I was curious to find out how you center yourself and clear your
head before writing. I have had a difficult time clearing
my thoughts in getting my ideas out there. I do enjoy writing however it just seems like the first 10 to
15 minutes are lost just trying to figure out how to begin. Any suggestions
or tips? Thank you!

Excellent items from you, man. I've remember your stuff
previous to and you are just too wonderful. I actually like what you have obtained
right here, really like what you're saying and the best way through which you say it.
You make it entertaining and you continue to care for to keep it
sensible. I cant wait to read far more from you.
This is really a terrific web site.

What i do not understood is in truth how you're now not actually a lot more
smartly-preferred than you might be now. You are so intelligent.
You recognize therefore significantly relating to this topic, made
me in my view consider it from so many numerous
angles. Its like men and women don't seem to be involved until it's something to accomplish with Lady gaga!
Your own stuffs outstanding. At all times maintain it up!

6 effective ways to quickly earn easy money you can download this link in PDF format: http://ready.googlenoomon.info/?p=13480
I work for every single of the above methods and earn more than $ 35,000 monthly.

Good day! This is my first visit to your blog! We are a group
of volunteers and starting a new project in a community in the same niche.
Your blog provided us beneficial information to work on. You have done a
marvellous job!

I do кnow a game wе aare able to play thats like Dadd
is tаloking about.? Mommy sfated making both boys want to know
the game a lot. ?It?s referrded to as ?What is the smartest thіng
about God. And every of uѕ has to come up wіtrh ߋne actuawlly
great ρoint ԝe like abοut God. Wһo wants
to go first?? Lee and Larry jumped and shouted ?ME ME!?

waving their arms іn thhe air like they do at school.
Lаstly, Mommy saiⅾ, ?Effectively Lee, since yourе two minutes ᧐lder
than ᒪarry, you can gо first.

An outstanding share! I have just forwarded this onto a co-worker who had been doing
a little research on this. And he in fact bought me lunch due to the fact that I found
it for him... lol. So let me reword this.... Thank YOU for
the meal!! But yeah, thanx for spending some time to discuss this issue here on your web page.

Good post. I learn something totally new and challenging on websites I stumbleupon every day.
It will always be helpful to read articles from other authors and practice a little something from their web sites.